The only thing more predictable than the Florida Democrats expressing opposition to the Trump administration's ICE agents enforcing sweeps, is those same Dems misrepresenting the facts of what's taking place. Add to that a remarkable touch of delusion surrounding the prior administration and you begin to wonder if the Florida Democratic Party even has access to news outlets.
What has the party in its latest state of frenzy was the announcement that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would conduct sweeps to collect illegals (criminals), with Miami slated to be one of the cities where the raids would be staged. In response, party Chair Terrie Rizzo issued a press release, displaying many of the aspects of misrepresentative spin.
"This is another ugly stain on America's morals," she said. "Florida is a state of immigrants who work hard to make our communities better, and these xenophobic raids only serve to create fear and chaos, with the sole purpose of pleasing Trump's base. We are united against these raids. Immigrants have rights and we are committed to protecting our communities."
In following this narrative about the immorality of deportations, Rizzo and the Dems have had to ignore one major fact: President Obama was far more adept at ICE raids and deportations. To go on and label these raids as “xenophobic” (which apparently they were NOT from 2008 through 2016), and to state that “immigrants have rights” evades the central issue. These raids target only those who have broken the law -- that is, the immigrants with legal standing to be here are not being targeted.
Some on the left attempt to say Obama’s call for raids was ethically different, because he only targeted those who were criminal. Well, according to the Immigrant Defense Project, that is the case now, too. The raids -- called for the past weekend, but delayed for the time being -- are targeting those who have become listed with “court-ordered removal.” Additional classifications for those sought by ICE are those who possess some form of lawful status but carry certain criminal convictions.
In a discussion on MSNBC, Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez seemed confused. “We have not been informed, we have not been asked to coordinate,” he said to Ali Velshi, but then made his own disqualifying explanation. “We don’t typically coordinate with any immigration enforcement -- that’s not something our police department does.” Given that ICE is a federal enforcement division is one explanation. Another is the number of cities declaring themselves sanctuary cities, and actually working against the federal agency.
The state Democrats have been even more emotional and less pragmatic. In a prior news release days earlier the Florida Democrats highlight a joint call with Congressman Darren Soto, state Sen. Bobby Powell, and state Rep. Cindy Polo. The purpose was to address the announced ICE activities, what they described as “attacks to immigrant communities.” There was no shortage of rhetoric, with all manner of hand-wringing concern, including Polo suggesting these raids would be “putting families at risk.” One shortage in the talk was any mention of ILLEGAL when referencing the immigrants in question.
This is the standard from Democrats in just about any discussion of border. They refuse to have an honest discussion on the matter, because they always conflate all immigrants and related issues when the thrust of the matter concerns the ILLEGAL status of those involved. Whether it is entering the country illegally, or addressing those already here but with criminal records justifying their expulsion by ICE, the Dems make the policy or the actions to be applied to all foreigners. Then racism is attached to the talk, and any rational discussion goes out the window.
All this proves, then, is that the Democrats are not interested in solutions. The refusal to even address the illegal status of those falling under the deportation orders means they are making purely political statements. Let's call it a HYPOCRISY alert: They don't want solutions, they want the talking point. And the only way to do that is through demonization of the actions -- actions they had approved of for eight years prior to President Trump.
Brad Slager, a Fort Lauderdale freelance writer, wrote this story exclusively for Sunshine State News. He writes on politics and the industry and his stories appear in such publications as RedState and The Federalist.
